It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy, but the Kalamazoo Wings (21-20-4-1) managed to squeak out a 5-4 overtime win against their North Division foe, the Evansville IceMen (17-27-2-3) on Wednesday night at Wings Stadium.

“We were very, very fortunate to get any points at all tonight,” K-Wings head coach Nick Bootland said following the game, “we really didn’t deserve it.”

After a sluggish first period, the K-Wings found themselves trailing the Icemen by a score of 2-1.

Alexandre Mallet scored the lone goal of the period for the K-Wings as he deflected a John Armstrong pass into the net to cut the IceMen’s lead in half.

Dylan Clarke and Kevin Baker scored for the IceMen.

Bootland said that his team, for whatever reason, seems to struggle with the first game of the week all season. “We talked about it as a group about that this week and obviously we didn’t make enough strides as a group,” he said.

“The biggest thing is you have to find what clicks for you as a professional,” Bootland said. “Every player is different when it comes to your preparation and what works for you. Not everyone can do the same thing and be prepared the same way.”

A quiet second period gave way to a wild third period which saw the two teams score five goals in a span of just over six minutes.

Brett Lysak tied the game with a rebound tally, his 13th on the year, to make it a 2-2 game.

The lead did not last long however as Josh Beaulieu regained the lead for the IceMen just 31 seconds later on the power play.

It’s deflating,” Bootland said of the quick goal by the IceMen. “It’s not a great feeling but we knew there was lots of hockey left and that we had an opportunity. We knew that there was a chance and it was one shot, that’s all it was going to take.”

Storming back just less than three minutes later, the K-Wings Alexandre Grenier and Elgin Reid scored a pair of goals just 52 seconds later to give the K-Wings their first lead of the night.

Clarke scored his second of the night for Evansville to tie the game at 4-4 with just over five minutes remaining in the game.

Yann Sauve scored the game winner just 47 seconds into the overtime stanza for the 5-4 win.

Sauve has three goals for the K-Wings in six games, two of which were game winners in overtime.

“I just try to work hard every shift,” Sauve said, “it wasn’t my best game today but I was able to put it in the net in OT. It wasn’t a good shot, I mean it went in and we got out with two points.”

Page 2 of 2 - Even though he did not feel his team deserved the win or the points last night, a win is a win and in order for the K-Wings to secure a spot in the playoffs, every game is a must win.

“To get to where you want to go you have to beat the teams in front of you, ahead of you, behind you, we have to beat everybody right now,” Bootland said. “We can’t take any time off whatsoever.”

The K-Wings now have 47 points on the season and trail the third place Fort Wayne Komets by five points.

Leaving this afternoon, the K-Wings will travel to Elmira, New York for a game against the Jackals on Friday night.

On Saturday the K-Wings will head to Trenton, New Jersey for a game against the Titans and then wrap up the east coast swing with a game against the Reading Royals on Sunday.